Best Actor: Forest Whitaker. We may very well see two frequent Oscar nominees win their first Academy Awards tonight. Unfortunately for Peter O'Toole (and Kevin O'Connell), the second one will be Thomas Newman.
Best Actress: Helen Mirren. And justifiably so.
Best Director: Martin Scorcese. Likewise.
Best Picture: A couple of weeks ago I said my gut told me Babel would win. My gut has changed its mind, and now thinks The Departed will win. Fickle things, guts.
Best Supporting Actor: I'm gonna go out on a bit of limb here and predict Jackie Earle Haley. Voters will be inspired by his unlikely comeback, and take comfort knowing that if they ever fall on hard times, they can still make it back to the top. Also, history is on his side: every other Academy Award-nominated actor from The Bad News Bears has won for their first nominated role.
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson. Of course you can act while singing, you numbnuts.
Best Writing, Original Screenplay: Little Miss Sunshine. Voters will want to reward it somehow, and this seems the most likely category.
Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay: The Departed. Because it's the only Best Picture nominee in this category.
The Others
Animated Short: The Little Matchgirl
Animated Feature: Cars
Art Direction: Pan's Labyrinth
Cinematography: Pan's Labyrinth
Costume Design: Marie Antoinette
Documentary Feature: An Inconvenient Truth
Documentary Short: Two Hands: The Leon Fleisher Story
Editing: Babel
Foreign Language Film: Pan's Labyrinth
Live Action Short: The Saviour
Makeup: Pan's Labyrinth
Original Score: The Good German
Original Song: "Listen," from Dreamgirls
Sound Mixing: Dreamgirls
Sound Editing: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Visual Effects: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Also, I predict Al Gore will come up on stage with the director of An Inconvenient Truth, and when given a chance to speak, will hold up the Oscar and say, "Suck on this, George!"
